Printing method, information processing system, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing control program

ABSTRACT

A printing method includes a customizing step of receiving a customization instruction of an administrator and customizing a printing screen, a printing step of performing printing in response to reception of a printing start instruction, and a displaying step of displaying the customized printing screen during the printing step, in which in the customizing step, required information is prohibited from being deleted from a display, and optional information is permitted to be deleted from the display.

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JPApplication Serial Number 2020-156878, filed Sep. 18, 2020, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a printing method, an informationprocessing system, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring a control program.

2. Related Art

In a multifunction device in the related art, it has been known todisplay the progress status of a job such as a print job (for example,JP-A-2019-202441, FIG. 10).

When various contents set by the administrator can be displayed inaddition to the printing progress status during printing, the waitingtime until the end of printing can be useful to the user.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided aprinting method including a customizing step of receiving acustomization instruction of an administrator and customizing a printingscreen, a printing step of performing printing in response to receptionof a printing start instruction, and a displaying step of displaying thecustomized printing screen during the printing step, in which in thecustomizing step, required information including information on aremaining amount of consumables is prohibited from being deleted from adisplay, and optional information except the required information ispermitted to be deleted from the display.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is providedan information processing system including a customizing section thatreceives a customization instruction of an administrator and customizesan executing screen of processing, a processing executing section thatexecutes the processing in response to reception of an execution startinstruction, and a display section that displays the customizedexecuting screen during the execution of the processing, in which thecustomizing section prohibits required information including informationon a remaining amount of consumables from being deleted from a display,and permits optional information except the required information to bedeleted from the display.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing acontrol program, the control program causing a computer to function as acustomizing section that receives a customization instruction of anadministrator and customizes an executing screen of processing, aprocessing executing section that executes the processing in response toreception of an execution start instruction, and a display section thatdisplays the customized executing screen during the execution of theprocessing, in which the customizing section prohibits requiredinformation including information on a remaining amount of consumablesfrom being deleted from a display, and permits optional informationexcept the required information to be deleted from the display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multifunction device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting adisplay mode during printing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for settingcustomized contents.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a default printing screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a customized printing screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating management of contents by presence orabsence of confirmation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of printing screen display processing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display setting screen foroptional information and required information.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of display processing before and after an erroroccurs.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Here, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in thefollowing order.

-   1. Configuration of Information Processing System-   2. Customization of Printing Screen-   3. Display of Customized Printing Screen-   4. Presence or Absence of Confirmation of Customized-   Printing Screen by User-   5. Required Information and Optional Information-   6. Display After Error Resolution-   7. Other Embodiments

1. Configuration of Information Processing System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multifunctiondevice 1 as an information processing system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. The multifunction device 1 includes aprocessor 10, a non-volatile memory 20, a user interface (UI) section30, a communication section 40, a printing section 50, a reading section60, and a FAX communication section 70. The processor 10 includes a CPU,ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown), and can execute various programsrecorded in the non-volatile memory 20 to control each section of themultifunction device 1. The processor 10 may be made of a single chip orconstituted by a plurality of chips. Further, for example, the ASIC maybe employed instead of the CPU, or the CPU and the ASIC may cooperatewith each other.

The UI section 30 includes a touch panel display. The touch paneldisplay includes a display panel that displays various information basedon the control of the processor 10 and a touch detection panel that issuperimposed on the display panel, and detects a touch operation by ahuman finger or the like. The touch panel display outputs informationindicating the touch operation to the processor 10. The processor 10acquires the touch operation based on the information. Unless otherwisespecified, the information in the present application may be regarded asthe same information even if the representation format is different, aslong as the same content is conveyed. That is, information may beregarded as the same even if there is a difference in the presence orabsence of line breaks or a difference in typeface.

The communication section 40 includes various communication interfacesfor communicating with other devices by wire or wirelessly. Further, thecommunication section 40 includes an interface for communicating withvarious removable memories mounted on the multifunction device 1. In thepresent embodiment, the communication section 40 includes an NFCcommunication section. The NFC communication section has a function ofcommunicating with a NFC tag when the NFC tag is approached within apredetermined distance and acquiring data recorded on the recordingmedium of the NFC tag.

In the present embodiment, the printing section 50 includes actuators,sensors, drive circuits, mechanical parts, and the like for printing onvarious print media by various printing methods such as an ink jetmethod and an electrophotographic method. The reading section 60includes a device for reading a document placed on a platen glass or adocument set on an ADF document tray, for example, a well-known colorimage sensor or a light source, an actuator for transporting thedocument, and a drive circuit, a sensor, mechanical parts, and the like.

The FAX communication section 70 is a modem for performing FAXcommunication of image data indicating a document via a public switchedtelephone network or the like, a circuit for detecting or generating acontrol signal for transmitting and receiving the image data, a circuitfor encoding transmission data and decoding reception data, and thelike.

The multifunction device 1 includes a timekeeping circuit (not shown),and the processor 10 can acquire the current date and time from thetimekeeping circuit.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the multifunction device 1is a device that is installed in an office or the like and shared by aplurality of users. A user of the multifunction device 1 carries an IDcard and the user's identification number is recorded on the recordingmedium of the ID card. When the user goes to the multifunction device 1and uses the multifunction device 1, the multifunction device 1 acquiresthe identification number by the NFC communication section when the IDcard is held over the NFC communication section, and determines whetheror not the user is registered in an authentication information table.When the user is already registered in the authentication informationtable, the user can log in to the multifunction device 1, and by loggingin to the multifunction device 1, can use various functions of themultifunction device 1. The multifunction device 1 has a plurality offunctions such as a copy function, a print function, a scanningfunction, and a fax function. Further, the multifunction device 1 candisplay any content during printing by customization to be describedlater by the administrator.

The processor 10 can execute a control program (not shown) recorded inthe non-volatile memory 20. When the control program is executed, theprocessor 10 functions as a customizing section 11, a processingexecuting section 12, a display section 13, and a management section 14.

The customizing section 11 is a function for receiving a customizationinstruction of an administrator and customizing an executing screen ofprocessing. A process in which the administrator makes settings fordisplaying any content during the execution of processing in themultifunction device 1 is called a customizing process. In the presentembodiment, an example of customizing a printing screen as theprocessing executing screen will be described. The printing screen is ascreen displayed between the start of printing in response to receptionof a printing start instruction from a user and the end of the print jobcorresponding to the instruction. Of course, it may be possible tocustomize the login screen, the scanning screen, and the FAXcommunication screen.

The processing executing section 12 is a function of executingprocessing in response to reception of an execution instruction, and inthe present embodiment, is a function of performing printing in responseto reception of a printing start instruction. For example, a usertransmits a file to be printed from a PC or the like to themultifunction device 1, and the user who logs in to the multifunctiondevice 1 gives a printing start instruction of the file stored in themultifunction device 1 by operating the UI section 30. Further, it maybe assumed that the file received by FAX and stored in the multifunctiondevice 1 and the file acquired from another cloud server are printed. Inaddition, printing in the copy function may be assumed. Upon receivingthe instruction to start printing, the processor 10 causes the printingsection 50 to execute printing based on the data to be printed. Aprocess in which the processor 10 performs printing by the function ofthe processing executing section 12 is called a printing process.

The display section 13 is a function of displaying a customized printingscreen during printing. The display section 13 also has a function ofdisplaying an uncustomized printing screen during printing. A process inwhich the processor 10 performs display on the UI section 30 by thefunction of the display section 13 is called a displaying process.

2. Customization of Printing Screen

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing an example of a screen used in thecustomizing process. FIG. 2 is a screen for selecting a display modeduring printing. A display mode at the time of login can also beselected on the screen of FIG. 2 . In the present embodiment, as thedisplay mode during printing, one of “PRINTING DISPLAY”, “DISPLAY ALL ATRANDOM”, “PRESET IMAGE”, “CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 1”, “CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 2”, and“CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 1”, and “CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 2” canbe selected. When “PRINTING DISPLAY” is selected, the processor 10displays printing default contents in an area p1 during printing. Thearea p1 is a predetermined area on the screen of the touch panel displayof the UI section 30 (see FIGS. 4 and 5 ).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a printing screen (alsoreferred to as a default printing screen) when “printing display” isselected. On the default printing screen, various information indicatingthe print job being executed is displayed in the area p11. For example,as shown in FIG. 4 , a file name being printed, a progress barindicating the progress status of a print job, other print parameters,and the like may be included. Further, outside the area p1, an icon i1indicating the remaining amount of ink, a number of pages a1 indicatingthe printing progress status, a button b1, and the like are displayed.The button b1 is an object for receiving an instruction to stopprinting. The default printing screen is an uncustomized printingscreen.

The “PRESET IMAGE” (see FIG. 2 ) is an image prepared by a vendor of themultifunction device 1. In the present embodiment, four still imagesthat introduce and propose, for example, convenient usage of themultifunction device 1 are prepared in advance as preset images. Thepreset images may be updated when the firmware is updated. When the“PRESET IMAGE” is selected by the administrator on the screen of FIG. 2, the processor 10 performs displaying by switching the preset images inorder or randomly in the area p11 of the printing screen duringprinting. The four preset images may be switched for each print job, ormay be switched every time a certain time interval elapses duringprinting. The printing image including the preset images in the area p11is a kind of printing screen that is not customized.

“CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 1” and “CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 2” are any image filesselected by the administrator, and “CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 1” and“CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 2” are any character strings set by theadministrator. FIG. 3 is an example of a screen for setting contentassociated with each of the four types of items in FIG. 2 . The screenshown in FIG. 3 allows the administrator to set an image file associatedwith the customized image 1 or 2. As the image file format, for example,JPEG, PNG, or the like may be assumed. Further, from the same screen,the administrator can set a character string to be displayed as thecustomized character string 1 or 2. The “CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 1”,“CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 2”, “CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 1”, and “CUSTOMIZEDCHARACTER STRING 2” are content items displayed in the area p1 on thecustomized printing screen in the present embodiment.

3. Display of Customized Printing Screen

In the present embodiment, by the function of the display section 13,the processor 10 automatically selects and displays at least one of aplurality of printing screens including the customized printing screendepending on a status in the printing process. When “DISPLAY ALL ATRANDOM” in FIG. 2 is selected, the processor 10 randomly selects onefrom “PRESET IMAGE”, “CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 1”, “CUSTOMIZED IMAGE 2”,“CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 1”, and “CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING 2”during printing, and display the selected one in the area p1.Specifically, the processor 10 selects the content to be displayed inthe area p1 according to the estimation of the time required forprinting. For example, the processor 10 acquires the number of printpages from the print job data, and when the number of print pages isequal to or less than a threshold value, the processor 10 displays animage randomly selected from the customized image 1, the customizedimage 2, and four preset images. When the number of print pages islarger than a threshold value, the processor 10 displays a characterstring randomly selected from all the contents including the customizedcharacter strings 1 and 2. It can be assumed that the larger the numberof print pages, the longer the time required for printing. The imagefile is assumed to contain a pattern other than characters, andaccordingly, can be assumed to require a shorter time for the user tograsp the content than the “CUSTOMIZED CHARACTER STRING” composed ofcharacters. Therefore, the processor 10 selects whether to display animage file or a customized character string depending on the number ofprint pages. In “DISPLAY ALL AT RANDOM”, the content to be displayed inthe area p11 may be switched every time a certain period of timeelapses. In that case, the processor 10 selects the content to bedisplayed next according to the estimated remaining time until the endof printing.

In addition to the number of pages, the time required for printing maybe estimated depending on the size of the file to be printed, the numberof characters contained in the file to be printed, the type of printfile such as whether it is a document or a photo, the size of the printmedium (A4, A3, or the like), and the like. Further, in the customizingprocess, the administrator may be able to input the reference timerequired for analyzing content in association with the content. Further,the reference time may be calculated by analyzing the content, such ascalculating the reference time from the number of characters included inthe content. In these cases, the content of which reference time is lessthan the estimated time required for printing may be selected anddisplayed.

When the content to be displayed is selected depending on the status inthe printing process, the processor 10 may select the content to bedisplayed, for example, according to the type of print data and printingconditions (parameters) used for printing, in addition to the printingtime required as described above. For example, when a user who haslogged in to the multifunction device 1 repeatedly prints under the sameprinting conditions, a preset image for introducing printing conditionsthat the user has never used may be selected. Further, the content to bedisplayed may be selected according to a printing execution time slot.For example, the processor 10 may preferentially select content of thescheduled leaving guidance in the afternoon time zone of the dayscheduled to leave work on time. In addition, the processor 10 maypreferentially select content that encourages stretching for refreshmentwhen printing is executed during the lunch break time zone or the dinnerbreak time zone. In order to select the content to be displayeddepending on the status in the printing process, the customizing processmay be configured such that the administrator inputs the date and timeor time zone in which the content is preferentially displayed for eachcontent and the printing conditions in association with each other. Asdescribed above, in the present embodiment, since the content selectedfrom the plurality of contents including the customized image, thecustomized character string, and the preset image is displayed duringprinting, the waiting time until the end of printing can be useful tothe user.

4. Presence or Absence of Confirmation of Customized Printing Screen byUser

The management section 14 is a function for managing whether the userconfirms or does not confirm the customized printing screen. A processof managing whether or not the processor 10 has made the confirmation bythe function of the management section 14 is called a managementprocess. In the present embodiment, when the processor 10 performs anoperation indicating that the user has made the confirmation by thefunction of the management section 14, an attribute is changed toindicate a screen confirmed by the user in response to the operation.The attribute is information indicating whether or not the user hasconfirmed the content.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the customized printing screen. The processor10 displays the content selected by the administrator in the area p11.In the example of FIG. 5 , the content of the customized characterstring 2 is displayed. Further, the area p11 includes a check box c1 anda close button b2 for the user to select “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME”.The close button b2 is a button for ending the display of the content ofthe area p1. When the close button b2 is touched, the processor 10displays a default printing screen when printing is still beingperformed (see FIG. 4 ). When the touch operation on the check box c1 isdetected, the processor 10 considers that the operation indicating thatthe user has confirmed the content has been performed, and changes theattribute to indicate that the content has been confirmed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing that attributes indicating presence orabsence of confirmation are managed for each content and each user. Thetable shown in FIG. 6 is recorded in the non-volatile memory 20. Forexample, when a user A logs in and starts printing, and the content ofthe customized character string 2 is displayed in the area p11 of theprinting screen, the user A touches the check box c1 of “NOT DISPLAYEDFROM NEXT TIME”, the processor 10 set the attribute of the customizedcharacter string 2 as “confirmed” by the user A by the function of themanagement section 14. The initial value of the attribute is“unconfirmed”. When the administrator selects a new image file as thecustomized image on the screen of FIG. 3 or updates the content in thecustomized character string, the processor 10 initializes the attributesof the customized images and the customized character strings to“unconfirmed” for all users. As shown in FIG. 6 , attributes indicatingpresence or absence of confirmation are managed for each of the fourpreset images.

In the displaying process, the processor 10 displays a screenunconfirmed by the user with priority over a screen confirmed by theuser, depending on a confirmation status of the user for the customizedprinting screen. That is, when “DISPLAY ALL AT RANDOM” is selected andthere are contents of which attributes have been confirmed and contentsof which attributes have not been unconfirmed, the processor 10 displaysthe latter in the area p11. When “DISPLAY ALL AT RANDOM” is selected andthe attributes of all the contents to be randomly displayed have beenconfirmed for a certain user, the processor 10 displays the defaultprinting screen (see FIG. 4 ).

In this way, since the contents can be confirmed for each user, and “NOTDISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME” can be selected, there is no need for the userto perform an operation (the close button b2 in FIG. 5 ) to end thedisplay of the content whenever the same content is displayed multipletimes. In addition, since there may be users who want the customizedcontent to be displayed repeatedly, and users who cannot confirm thecontent in detail now but want to confirm it at the next opportunity,the same content can be repeatedly displayed for such users.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of printing screen display processing. Theprinting screen display processing is executed in response to receptionof the printing start instruction from the user who has logged in to themultifunction device 1. When the printing screen display processing isstarted, the processor 10 starts printing by the function of theprocessing executing section 12 (step S100). That is, the processor 10instructs the printing section 50 to execute printing based on data tobe printed. In this way, printing starts.

Subsequently, the processor 10 determines whether or not “PRINTINGDISPLAY” is selected by the function of the display section 13 (stepS105). That is, in the customizing process, it is determined whether ornot the administrator has selected “PRINTING DISPLAY” on the screenshown in FIG. 2 . When it is determined in step S105 that “PRINTINGDISPLAY” is selected, the processor 10 causes the display to transitionto the default printing screen (step S135). That is, the processor 10displays the default printing screen shown in FIG. 4 .

When it is not determined in step S105 that “PRINTING DISPLAY” isselected, the processor 10 determines whether or not the attributes ofthe content to be displayed have been confirmed (step S110). That is,the processor 10 acquires the display mode selected by the administratoron the screen of FIG. 2 and determines the content to be displayed inthe area p1 of the printing screen this time. Then, by referring to theattributes managed for each user and each content (see FIG. 6 ), it isdetermined whether or not the logged-in user has confirmed the contentto be displayed this time.

When it is determined in step S110 that the confirmation has been made,the processor 10 executes step S135. When it is not determined in stepS110 that the confirmation has been made, the processor 10 displays theprinting screen including the content by the function of the displaysection 13 (step S115). That is, as shown in FIG. 5 , the processor 10displays the printing screen containing the content in the area p1.

Subsequently, the processor 10 determines whether or not an event forending the display has occurred by the function of the display section13 (step S120). That is, the processor 10 determines whether or not thecontent has been displayed for a certain period of time before the endof the current print job, or whether or not the user has performed anoperation of “closing” the content.

When it is not determined in step S120 that the event for ending thecontent display has occurred, the processor 10 returns to step S115 andcontinues to display the printing screen including the content. When itis determined in step S120 that the event for ending the content displayhas occurred, the processor 10 determines whether or not the user hasselected “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME” by the function of themanagement section 14 (step S125). That is, the processor 10 determineswhether or not the user has performed an operation of putting a checkmark in “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME” before the content display ends.When “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME” is selected in step S125, theprocessor 10 executes step S130.

When it is determined in step S125 that “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME”is selected, the processor 10 sets the attribute as “confirmed” by thefunction of the management section 14 (step S130). That is, theprocessor 10 sets the attribute of the content displayed in step S115 as“confirmed”. After executing step S130, the processor 10 executes stepS135.

5. Required Information and Optional Information

In the present embodiment, when the customized printing screen isdisplayed on the UI section 30, the processor 10 displays requiredinformation in a vacant area. In another embodiment, a configuration maybe employed in which the required information is displayed on acustomized printing screen in a superimposed manner. The requiredinformation includes information on the remaining amount of consumables.In the present embodiment, the information on the remaining amount ofthe recording agent such as ink and toner is assumed as the requiredinformation. Information regarding when to replace the print head may beincluded in the required information. By the function of the customizingsection 11, when the customized printing screen is displayed, theprocessor 10 prohibits the required information including theinformation on the remaining amount of consumables from being deletedfrom the display, and permits optional information except the requiredinformation to be deleted from the display.

FIG. 8 is an example of a display setting screen for optionalinformation and required information when a customized printing screenis displayed. In the present embodiment, printing progress informationis assumed as an example of the optional information. The administratorcan select whether or not to display the printing progress status on thescreen shown in FIG. 8 . That is, it is permitted to delete optionalinformation from the display on the customized printing screen. Whennon-display is selected for the printing progress status, the number ofpages a1 indicating the printing progress status in FIG. 5 is put intonon-display. The characters “PRINTING” may continue to be displayed.

Meanwhile, the processor 10 can present the screen such that theadministrator can select whether to always display information on theremaining amount of ink, which is required information, or to display itdepending on the status. As shown in FIG. 8 , for “depending on thestatus”, for example, it may be assumed that the amount of ink of anyone color is less than or equal to a predetermined amount. Therefore, inthe present embodiment, the administrator cannot select to always putthe required information into non-display, but it is not alwaysnecessary to display the required information. That is, although it isalways prohibited to delete required information from the display, therequired information is not prevented from being put into non-displaydepending on the status. When any of the inks is more than apredetermined amount, the information regarding the remaining amount ofink is not displayed, and when any one color of ink is less than orequal to the predetermined amount, information regarding the remainingamount of ink is displayed in the area surround by the dashed line shownin FIG. 5 .

Further, on the screen shown in FIG. 8 , by the function of thecustomizing section 11, the processor 10 presents the display format ofthe required information so that the administrator can select thedisplay format and accepts that the administrator changes the displayformat. For example, as options for the display format of theinformation on the remaining amount of ink, a display format indicatingthe ink remaining amount by an icon and a display format indicating theink remaining amount by an icon and a description may be presented. Whenan icon is selected for displaying, an icon indicating the remainingamount of ink is displayed in the area of the dashed line in FIG. 5 . Inthe present embodiment, the display format can also be selected for theprinting progress status, which is optional information. The printingprogress status display format is displayed in a selectable manner when“DISPLAY” is selected for the printing progress status.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the requiredinformation can be displayed even on the customized printing screen, andthus the user can be notified of the highly important information thatneeds to be presented to the user.

6. Display After Error Resolution

When an error (for example, the remaining amount of the print mediumbecomes 0, the print medium becomes clogged in the transport path, theremaining amount of ink becomes 0, and so on) occurs in a state in whichprinting is being executed while displaying the customized printingscreen, the processor 10 superimposes and displays, on the customizedprinting screen, an error screen for notifying that an error hasoccurred and for guiding a method for resolving the error. When the userresolves the error with the guidance on the error screen, the processor10 detects the error resolution. For example, sensors for detecting thestates of each section of the multifunction device 1 such as a sensorthat detects the remaining amount of ink and the remaining amount of theprint medium are provided, and the processor 10 can detect that theerror has been resolved based on the output of the sensors. When theerror resolution is detected, the processor 10 resumes printing. At thistime, the processor 10 performs displaying by switching to the defaultprinting screen, which is an uncustomized printing screen duringprinting of the print job in which the error has occurred or printing ofa predetermined page after resuming printing. That is, even if thecustomized printing screen is displayed until the error occurs, whenprinting is resumed after the error is resolved, the default printingscreen is displayed until printing of all pages of the print job inwhich the error has occurred, or until printing of the predeterminedpage after resuming printing is completed. The printing screencustomized by the occurrence of an error may be switched to the defaultprinting screen.

It is possible to display the customized printing screen even after theerror is resolved, but it is assumed that the user wants to know whetherprinting will be executed without any problem after the error isresolved. The default printing screen has more information regarding theprint job being executed than the customized printing screen. Therefore,it is desirable that the processor 10 can present the information thatthe user wants to know by performing displaying by switching to thedefault printing screen after resuming printing. When it is selected toput the printing progress status into “non-display” on the screen shownin FIG. 8 when the customized printing screen is displayed as before theerror has occurred even after printing is resumed, it is difficult forthe user to promptly know whether or not printing is proceeding smoothlyafter resuming printing. However, according to the present embodiment,after resuming printing after the error is resolved, the defaultprinting screen is displayed, and thus the user can easily confirm thatthe printing is being in progress without any problem. The predeterminedpage after resuming printing may be, for example, one or two pages.

The display processing before and after the error occurs will bedescribed with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 9 . The processing isstarted when the administrator has selected to display the customizedprinting screen and printing is instructed to start. First, theprocessor 10 displays the customized printing screen until an erroroccurs (steps S200, S205). When an error occurs during printing (Ydetermination in step S205), the processor 10 displays an error screenuntil the error is resolved (steps S210 and S215). When the error isresolved (Y determination in step S215), the processor 10 displays thedefault printing screen until printing is completed (steps S220 andS225).

S225 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 assumes that printing of the last pageof the print job in which the error has occurred ends, and after Ydetermination in step S225, the processor 10 ends the display of thedefault printing screen and displays the home screen. Then, from thenext print job, the processor 10 displays the customized printing screenagain during printing. For example, in a 10-page print job, when anerror occurs on the fifth page, the processor 10 displays the customizedprinting screen for pages 1 to 5 and displays an error screen due to anerror, and after the error is resolved, displays default printing screenduring printing pages 5 to 10. Then, from the next print job, theprocessor 10 displays the customized printing screen again.

When step S225 refer to the end of printing for the predetermined pageafter resuming printing, after Y determination in step S225, theprocessor 10 stops displaying the default printing screen and displaysthe customized printing screen during printing of the remaining pages ofthe print job. For example, in a 10-page print job, when an error occurson the fifth page, the processor 10 displays the customized printingscreen for pages 1 to 5 and displays an error screen due to an error,displays the default printing screen during printing of thepredetermined page (for example, the fifth page) after resolving theerror, and displays the customized printing screen again after the sixthpage.

Furthermore, depending on the severity level of the error, aconfiguration for switching the time until which the default printingscreen is displayed after resuming printing may be employed. Levels 1,2, and 3 are given in order from the less severe one. Level 1 assumesthat, for example, the remaining number of print media is 0, level 2assumes that, for example, the remaining amount of ink is 0, and level 3assumes that, for example, the print medium is jammed in the transportpath. In the case of level 1, the display of the customized printingscreen may be restored immediately after resuming printing. In the caseof level 2, after resuming printing, the default printing screen may bedisplayed for the predetermined page, and the customized printing screenmay be restored when printing for the predetermined page is completed.In the case of level 3, after resuming printing, the default printingscreen may be displayed until the executing print job is completed.

7. Other Embodiments

The above embodiment is an example for implementing the presentdisclosure, and various other embodiments can be employed. For example,the present disclosure can be applied to various information processingsystems other than multifunction devices. The information processingsystem may be provided with a customizing section, a processingexecuting section, and a display section, and may be, for example, aprinter or a scanner, a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet, ora combination thereof. The device provided with the processing executingsection and the display section and the device provided with thecustomizing section may be different devices. Further, the processingexecuting section, the display section, and the customizing section maybe separate devices. The device including the processing executingsection and the device including the display section and the customizingsection may be different devices. For example, the customized printingscreen may be saved in a server outside the device, and the customizedprinting screen may be displayed from the server immediately before thecustomized printing screen is displayed.

Further, the processing executed by the processing executing section maybe any processing that is executed by receiving an execution startinstruction from the user. For example, it may be login processing,log-off processing, a print, a scan, a FAX transmission, or FAX receiveddata transmission processing, or a file transmission and reception bycommunication other than FAX. Further, it may be data search processing,duplication processing, or deletion processing.

When an error occurs during execution of processing and then the erroris resolved and the processing is resumed, a display may be performed byswitching to an uncustomized executing screen until the execution of theprocessing in which the error has occurred is completed or during apredetermined period after resuming the execution. The predeterminedperiod after resuming the execution may be defined by the length oftime. Alternatively, the predetermined period after resuming theexecution may be a period during which a predetermined number of stepsto be executed after resuming among the plurality of steps constitutingthe processing are executed.

In the displaying process, when at least one of a plurality of printingscreens including the customized printing screen is automaticallyselected and displayed depending on the status in the printing process(the executing status of processing other than printing may be used), inthe above embodiment, the configuration is employed in which one of thecontent (customized image and customized character string) set by theadministrator and the preset image is automatically selected anddisplayed. As another embodiment, a configuration can be assumed inwhich at least one of a customized printing screen and an uncustomizedprinting screen is selected and displayed. For example, a configurationmay be employed in which at least one of the customized printing screensincluding the content set by the administrator, the printing screenincluding the preset image, and one of the default printing screens areselected and displayed. In addition, although the screen shown in FIG. 2shows an example in which radio buttons are shown so that one of theradio buttons can be selected and guided, check boxes may be presentedin a multi-selectable manner. Then, the printing screen may beconfigured in a mode automatically selected from those selected amongthe check boxes. Two or more contents may be displayed at the same time.

The content of customization is not limited to the above-describedembodiment. For example, a combination of text, a still image, and amoving image may be displayed. In addition to the display, customizationmay be performed to generate sound. When a device manufacturerdetermines that required information is unnecessary, the requiredinformation may not be set and all information on the default printingscreen may be set as optional information.

The customizing process may include accepting the administrator tochange at least one of the display format and the display position ofthe required information. Required information is information that hasto be displayed whenever a specific condition occurs. In the aboveembodiment, the example has been described in which the display formatcan be changed, but the display position of the required information maybe changed by the administrator. The display position of the requiredinformation may be selected by the administrator to be superimposed anddisplayed on the customized content, or may be selected by theadministrator to be displayed in an empty space. In addition, the“status” when displaying required information depending on the status isa status in which a specific condition has occurred.

In the above embodiment, as an example of the management process, aconfiguration has been employed in which the customized printing screenhas been confirmed by the user performing an operation on the check boxof “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME”, but the following methods may also beemployed. For example, the processor measures a display time of thecontent by using a timekeeping circuit, and manages the cumulativedisplay time for each user and each content. Then, an attribute may bechanged to a screen confirmed by the user in response to a cumulativedisplay time of the screen unconfirmed by the user reaching a thresholdvalue or exceeding the threshold value. Further, for example, for thecontent unconfirmed by a user, the processor measures the continuousdisplay time from the start of display to the end of display by usingthe timekeeping circuit. Then, an attribute may be changed to the screenconfirmed by the user in response to a continuous display time of thescreen unconfirmed by the user reaching a threshold value or exceedingthe threshold value.

In addition, the customizing process may include presenting theadministrator to select whether or not to repeatedly display thecustomized printing screen. This selection may be possible for eachcontent. When the administrator selects to repeatedly display thecustomized printing screen, the processor displays the customizedprinting screen even if the user has confirmed the customized printingscreen, and when the administrator selects not to repeatedly display thecustomized printing screen, the processor does not display thecustomized printing screen if the user has confirmed the customizedprinting screen. For example, for content for business alert or contentfor which many users have not selected “NOT DISPLAYED FROM NEXT TIME”(content that is repeatedly read by many users), the attribute may beset as “unconfirmed” again after a certain period of time and thecontent may be displayed repeatedly, even if the content is confirmedonce. In this way, it is possible to increase the opportunity to provideinformation that may be useful to the user.

The displaying process may include displaying another printing screen inresponse to an operation of the user performed during the display of thecustomized printing screen. For example, a button such as “NEXT” may bedisplayed in the area p1 of the customized print screen shown in FIG. 5. When an operation is performed on the “NEXT” button, the processordisplays other customized printing screens and the default printingscreen. The screen displayed with “NEXT” is preferably an unconfirmedscreen. In this way, the user may be able to manually switch theprinting screen.

Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to displaying thedefault printing screen after the error is resolved, and the amount ofinformation regarding the print job being executed after the errorresolution may be switched to a printing screen with more customizationthan the customized printing screen has been displayed up to theoccurrence of the error. This includes performing displaying by forciblyswitching the customized printing screen, in which the optionalinformation is in non-display, to display the optional information afterthe error is resolved.

Further, as the present disclosure, a program or method executed by acomputer can be applied. Further, the system, program, and method asdescribed above may be implemented as a single device or may beimplemented by using parts provided in a plurality of devices, andinclude various aspects. In addition, some are software and some arehardware, which can be changed as appropriate. Further, the disclosureis also established as a recording medium for a program that controls asystem. Of course, the recording medium for the program may be amagnetic recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and any recordingmedium to be developed in the future can be considered in exactly thesame way.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing method comprising: receiving acustomization instruction of an administrator and customizing a printingscreen; performing printing in response to reception of a printing startinstruction; and displaying a customized printing screen in which theprinting screen has been customized based on the customizationinstruction, the customized printing screen being displayed afterstarting the printing in response to the reception of the printing startinstruction before ending a print job related to the printing startinstruction, wherein in the customizing of the printing screen, requiredinformation including information on a remaining amount of consumablesis prohibited from being deleted from a display, and optionalinformation except the required information is permitted to be deletedfrom the display.
 2. The printing method according to claim 1, whereinin the customizing of the printing screen, accepting of changing, by theadministrator, at least one of a display position and a display formatof the required information is performed.
 3. The printing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein in the customizing of the printing screen,a selection is made by the administrator as to whether to always displaythe required information, or to display the required informationdepending on a status.
 4. An information processing system comprising: acustomizing section that receives a customization instruction of anadministrator and customizes an executing screen of processing; aprocessing executing section that executes the processing in response toreception of an execution start instruction; and a display section thatdisplays a customized executing screen in which the executing screen hasbeen customized based on the customization instruction, the displaysection displaying the customized executing screen after starting ofexecution of the processing in response to the reception of theexecution start instruction before ending of a job related to theexecution start instruction, wherein the customizing section prohibitsrequired information including information on a remaining amount ofconsumables from being deleted from a display, and permits optionalinformation except the required information to be deleted from thedisplay.
 5. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing acontrol program, the control program causing a computer to function as:a customizing section that receives a customization instruction of anadministrator and customizes an executing screen of processing; aprocessing executing section that executes the processing in response toreception of an execution start instruction; and a display section thatdisplays a customized executing screen in which the executing screen hasbeen customized based on the customization instruction, the displaysection displaying the customized executing screen after starting ofexecution of the processing in response to the reception of theexecution start instruction before ending of a job related to theexecution start instruction, wherein the customizing section prohibitsrequired information including information on a remaining amount ofconsumables from being deleted from a display, and permits optionalinformation except the required information to be deleted from thedisplay.